John Milton 16081674

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John Milton1608-1674

• When I Consider How My Light Is Spent

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Italian Sonnet

• 14 lines
• abba abba cdecde
• Octet and sestet
• Iambic Pentameter
• When I/ con sid/ er how/ my light/ is spent

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History

• John Milton went blind by the age of forty-four

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Octet

• Contemplation or Question
• When I consider how my light is spent (1)
• Metaphor
• Comparing his sight with a spent candle

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Octet

• And that one talent which is death to hide/
  Lodged with me useless (3-4)
• Biblical Allusion
• A servant is scolded for burying his one coin
  (talent) in the earth instead of putting it to
  good use.
• How can Milton use his talent of writing poetry
  if he is blind?
• Main point of the octet

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Sestet

• Answer to the Question
• Patience responds with an answer
• Personification
• Patience is capitalized and speaks

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Patiences Answer

• God doth not needEither mans work or His own
  gifts. Who bestBear His mild yoke, they serve
  Him best. His stateIs Kingly Thousands at His
  bidding speed,And post oer land and ocean
  without restThey also serve who only stand and
  wait. (9-14)

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Patiences Answer

• The best way to serve God is to bear His mild
  yoke
• The burdens a person must bear
• The word mild suggests that his burden is not as
  great as others
• The speaker must realize that the burden (his
  blindness) is part of Gods will.
• The speaker must still continue to serve God.